Four Months Old and Driving

June 11, 2008 - Today Aidan is 4 months old, and what a difference a month makes!  I know, I probably say that every time, but it's so true.  There have been so many changes, and it makes me realize how fast he's growing up.

At about 3 1/2 months, Aidan started rolling from his back to his tummy.  The first time he did it was at the doctor's office - he was laying on the exam table waiting for the doctor, and all of a sudden he rolled over onto his tummy.  I was shocked!  I wasn't sure if it was just an accident or if he did it on purpose, so when we got home I put him on the couch, and he did it again.  It was so exciting!  A few days later, Ben had him on the floor, and he actually rolled all the way over a few times.  I guess there was somewhere he wanted to go across the room.  So now he rolls over pretty much every time we lay him down on his back, especially in his crib, and now he sleeps only on his stomach.  

Aidan also has gotten really good at holding his head up when he's laying on his tummy or when we carry him around.  I got him one of those little Bumbo baby chairs, and he sits in it a few times a day to help strengthen his neck muscles and get used to a sitting position.  Ever since I bought that chair, he doesn't like to be carried like a baby anymore, he only wants to be upright so he can look around.

Speaking of looking around, Aidan's vision has really improved.  He can now see me across the room and gives me a big smile, and he loves to look at everything, especially if it's brightly colored.  We are now able to put him in a regular stroller (as opposed to snapping his car seat into the stroller), so he can see everything as we walk around.  He is much happier this way when we run errands.

Another new thing we're working on is a schedule.  We've changed up the way we do things throughout the day.  I used to feed him, put him down for a nap, then we'd play after he woke up, and I did everything by his schedule.  Now, I feed him when he wakes up, then we play before he goes back to sleep, and he takes naps about every two hours.  Just doing this has lengthened his nap from 30 minutes to an hour or more, and he is sleeping much better at night.  Now he will sleep for about 7-8 hours before waking up to eat again.  His bedtime is 8:30 p.m., which gives Ben and me a chance to doing things we want to do - last night we watched our first movie without having to walk Aidan around the whole time!   This new schedule is really working out for all of us, and we all seem much happier.

Now is the time when it's really getting fun to have a baby, because he is so much more aware of, well, everything.  He smiles so much more, and he's getting to the point that when I walk in the room he sees me and gives me a huge grin.  Nothing can beat that!

I hope all is well with everyone, and happy early father's day to all you dads!!